More than 10 months after it began, Sudan's war has morphed into a low-intensity conflict but with the warring sides seemingly adamant to shun mediation attempts and fight on.
Analysts, however, say the relative lull in fighting is not stopping the war between the army and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces from deepening ethnic divisions in the vast Afro-Arab nation that could take years, maybe decades, to heal after the guns fall silent.
“The racist and tribalist narrative is used in this war as a military and political tool,” said prominent Sudanese analyst Osman Al Mirghani.
“The RSF employs narratives about marginalisation and the grip on power by Arabised northern Sudanese, omitting the fact that its own nucleus is Arab ….”
Conflict with ethnic or religious undertones is not new to Sudan.
Since independence in 1956, it has suffered decades of bloody and ruinous civil strife in which the government in the Muslim and Arabised north fought with non-Arab or non-Muslim rebels, seeking what they viewed as a fair share of national resources or an end to discrimination.
Some of these conflicts formally ended, while others became dormant, but the root causes were never adequately dealt with.
The latest bout of civil strife in Sudan began last April when simmering tensions between the army and the RSF over details of the nation's democratic transition boiled over into violence.
The fighting, mostly taking place in the capital Khartoum, has to date displaced nearly eight million people and given rise to a major humanitarian crisis. There are no precise numbers for the dead or injured. One figure often cited for the death toll is 10,000, but the actual number is believed to be considerably higher.
A series of ceasefires mediated by the US and Saudi Arabia in the early days of the war did not endure. Similarly, attempts by regional groupings and Sudan's neighbours to end the war have come to nothing.
Significantly, both the army and the RSF have so far failed to gain a definite edge on the battlefield, although the paramilitary has been in near total control of Khartoum and made major inroads south and west of the capital. The army, for its part, has in recent days regained control of areas in Khartoum's twin cities of Omdurman and Bahri.
“There will be no peace until the mutiny is defeated,” army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan said defiantly last week.
“The war must end before there can be a political process,” he added, alluding to a recent bid by politicians to arrange a meeting between him and his one-time ally, RSF commander Gen Mohamed Dagalo, to resolve their differences.
Gen Al Burhan and Gen Dagalo jointly staged a coup in October 2021 that is widely viewed to have caused the war to break out 18 months later. The coup overthrew a civilian-led government, upending Sudan's democratic transition and plunging the country into its worst political and economic crisis to date, two years after dictator Omar Al Bashir and his regime were toppled in a popular uprising.
Al Bashir ruled Sudan for 29 years in which the country suffered international isolation, a string of economic crises, the brutal suppression of dissent, all the while seeking elusive military victories over rebellions in the west and south of the country.
To this day, the years of Al Bashir rule cast a shadow over life in Sudan.
The coup, which drew punitive measures from the West, led to a security vacuum in Sudan's outlying regions, giving rise to the resurrection of latent ethnic and tribal fissures.
The coup and subsequently the army-RSF war have given Al Bashir loyalists the chance to return to the public stage, using their economic might to regain relevance and leverage.
Compensating for its shortage of manpower, the army has recruited thousands of suspected fighters from militias linked to the toppled regime to fight the RSF.
The enlistment of the Islamists gifted the RSF a narrative rooted in the notion that it was fighting remnants of the hated Al Bashir regime to restore the nation's democratic transition.
The RSF also claims it is fighting to break the monopoly on political power by the Arabised north of Sudan and to empower the country's marginalised regions, such as Darfur and Kordofan in the West.
The RSF's forerunner is a notorious militia called the Janjaweed, which joined Al Bashir's government in fighting ethnic African rebels in Darfur, its own birthplace, in the 2000s. Both the Janjaweed and government forces are accused of war crimes in Darfur.
Now, the RSF is facing accusations that, together with its allies, it has killed hundreds of unarmed civilians in Darfur who belong to an ethnic African community, the Masalit, since the war against the army began.
In Khartoum, it faces accusations of sexual assault, commandeering private homes, looting and arbitrary detention and torture.
The army is using Sudan's ethnic mosaic to its own advantage.
Its drive to recruit able-bodied men to fight the RSF is restricted to areas where Arabised Sudanese are the dominant demographic, such as northern Sudan and areas to the south of the capital, not outlying regions where non-Arab communities form a large segment of the population.
“The army plays the same cards as those of the RSF,” said Mr Al Mirghany. “The conflict is essentially political and not societal but the warring parties use ethnic faultlines to the detriment of the people.”
The army's drive to recruit civilians significantly accelerated after the RSF captured Wad Medani, a city south of Khartoum that sits in Al Jazeera region, the breadbasket of Sudan whose produce is vital to feeding the country and to the nation's exports.
The fall of the city led to a mass exodus of residents who either fled the country or sought refuge elsewhere in Sudan. It also sent shock waves across regions north and south of the capital, as well eastern regions, with many taking up arms in anticipation of an RSF attack.
However, Sami Saeed, a Sudanese analyst with a prominent European-based think tank, said arming civilians in those areas or the emergence of local militias may have been unjustified.
“The army has total control and retains large bases in those areas,” he said. “The roads to these regions are exposed, making any forces' movement towards them an easy target. Frequent reports of RSF movements in those directions have turned out to be false alarms.”
Mr Saeed said fear of RSF incursions has led to many cases of innocent civilians who were fleeing the RSF, including entire families, being detained by vigilante groups and sometimes tortured.
A new UN report has framed the involvement of both sides in combat practices that could amount to war crimes.
The report said the army and RSF have used inaccurate weapons with "wide area effects", such as missiles fired from fighter jets, drones and anti-aircraft guns and artillery shells in densely populated areas. The report also accused the RSF of using human shields and claimed both sides had recruited child soldiers.
“For nearly a year now, accounts coming out of Sudan have been of death, suffering and despair, as the senseless conflict and human rights violations and abuses have persisted with no end in sight,” UN human rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement after the release of the report.
“Some of these violations would amount to war crimes.” he said.
Last month, International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan told the UN Security Council there was evidence that Rome Statute crimes – which include genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes – are being committed in Sudan.
No Shame
Lily Allen
(Parlophone)
THE%20STRANGERS'%20CASE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Brandt%20Andersen%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EOmar%20Sy%2C%20Jason%20Beghe%2C%20Angeliki%20Papoulia%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
RESULTS
6.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh82.500 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Meshakel, Royston Ffrench (jockey), Salem bin Ghadayer (trainer)
7.05pm Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m
Winner Gervais, Connor Beasley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7.40pm Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (Turf) 2,410m
Winner Global Heat, Pat Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor.
8.15pm Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner Firnas, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8.50pm UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (TB) Conditions Dh183,650 (D) 1,600m
Winner Rebel’s Romance, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
9.25pm Dubai Trophy (TB) Conditions Dh183,650 (T) 1,200m
Winner Topper Bill, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
10pm Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (T) 1,400m
Winner Wasim, Mickael Barzalona, Ismail Mohammed.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Brief scoreline:
Wales 1
James 5'
Slovakia 0
Man of the Match: Dan James (Wales)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Company%C2%A0profile
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Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US' most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was first created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out projectiles, namely ballistic missiles, as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles both inside and outside of the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 93 miles above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then deployed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
Know your cyber adversaries
Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.
Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.
Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.
Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.
Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.
Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.
Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.
Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.
Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
WHAT ARE NFTs?
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are tokens that represent ownership of unique items. They allow the tokenisation of things such as art, collectibles and even real estate.
An NFT can have only one official owner at one time. And since they're minted and secured on the Ethereum blockchain, no one can modify the record of ownership, not even copy-paste it into a new one.
This means NFTs are not interchangeable and cannot be exchanged with other items. In contrast, fungible items, such as fiat currencies, can be exchanged because their value defines them rather than their unique properties.
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, semi-final result:
Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona
Liverpool win 4-3 on aggregate
Champions Legaue final: June 1, Madrid
Company%20profile
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MATCH INFO
Barcelona 5 (Lenglet 2', Vidal 29', Messi 34', 75', Suarez 77')
Valladolid 1 (Kiko 15')
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
MATCH INFO
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
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Planes grounded by coronavirus
British Airways: Cancels all direct flights to and from mainland China
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific: Cutting capacity to/from mainland China by 50 per cent from Jan. 30
Chicago-based United Airlines: Reducing flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong
Ai Seoul: Suspended all flights to China
Finnair: Suspending flights to Nanjing and Beijing Daxing until the end of March
Indonesia's Lion Air: Suspending all flights to China from February
South Korea's Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air and Jin Air: Suspend all flights
A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
Draw
Quarter-finals
Real Madrid (ESP) or Manchester City (ENG) v Juventus (ITA) or Lyon (FRA)
RB Leipzig (GER) v Atletico Madrid (ESP)
Barcelona (ESP) or Napoli (ITA) v Bayern Munich (GER) or Chelsea (ENG)
Atalanta (ITA) v Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Ties to be played August 12-15 in Lisbon
Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
Brolliology: A History of the Umbrella in Life and Literature
By Marion Rankine
Melville House
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.6-litre turbo
Transmission: six-speed automatic
Power: 165hp
Torque: 240Nm
Price: From Dh89,000 (Enjoy), Dh99,900 (Innovation)
On sale: Now
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
